Love, Before and After
by Arglefumph
Summary: Two scenes, about the relationship between Tino Balducci and Lori Girard. These occur before and after Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon.
1. Before

**Author's Note:** One of optional storylines in _Nancy Drew: Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon_ is about Lori Girard and Tino Balducci. Specifically, Nancy learns that they once dated each other for a bit, until Tino's friends convinced him to call off the growing relationship. Thanks to Nancy's prompting, Tino decides to apologize to Lori and give their relationship another chance.

Nancy Drew: Amateur Detective and Matchmaker.

This chapter is a short glimpse of the last time Tino was with Lori, before the breakup. He stopped calling her, but he didn't stop caring.

* * *

The noise from loud party seemed to disappear as Tino shut the balcony door behind him. "Is this good?" he asked.

"It's perfect!" Lori smiled. "I mean, I like parties, but sometimes I like getting away too, you know?"

The New York air was warm that night, and the view from Lori's penthouse was amazing. Almost as amazing as the woman standing next to him. Like usual, Lori was wearing an eccentric outfit which probably cost thousands of dollars. Tino wasn't a fashion expert, so he couldn't explain why Lori's dress came with a turtleneck and wristgloves, but he thought she looked stunning.

"Yeah..." Tino said. He put his arm around Lori's shoulders, and she snuggled closer into him. "It feels like I haven't had any time for myself, ever since I caught those bank robbers, you know?"

"Oh, I know exactly what you mean," Lori said. "Once you're famous, it's like you have _no _private time! It's way too much pressure."

"Yeah...pressure..." Tino said. He sighed and spent a few seconds staring at the moon. When he turned his head to look at Lori, he found her gazing into his eyes.

"I love it when you do that," she said.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Think," she said. "Whenever you think about something important, your eyes get this amazingly seriously look. It's, like, a total turn on."

"Oh really? Is it as good as the time you forced me to do Elvis karaoke?" Tino chuckled.

"Better," Lori said. "I'm not the smartest person ever, so I really like that you are. Smart, that is. But I like how you are, too!"

"I like you too, Dollface," Tino said. He waggled an eyebrow at her. She giggled and kissed his cheek.

"Not that I don't mind being alone with you, but why did you want us to come out the balcony?" Lori asked.

"I...I wanted to talk about us," Tino said. "You see, Lori, people have been talking to me about you, and..."

Tino paused as he remembered the conversation he had with his boss, the afternoon before.

_"Nobody's gonna take you seriously, as long as you're dating that zero," Ralph said. "Trust me. I __used to be a security guard at Worldwide Broadcasting. And today? I'm a captain of the NYPD!"_

_"I know she ain't exactly the smartest gal in the world, but I don't think it's **that** bad for me to be seen with her," Tino said defensively._

_"She's famous for all the wrong reasons, Balducci. People are gonna think you're only dating her for the money, or worse. You wanna be brought down when she crashes? It's your funeral."_

"And?" Lori asked, smiling.

"...Nothing," Tino said. "Let's go back to the party."

"If you say so, Bright Eyes," Lori said. She hugged him with the arm she had wrapped around his torso. "I'm so happy I met you. I think this relationship could really work! I mean, I've met a _lot_ of losers. But you're not one of them!"

"I hope you're right, Lori," Tino said under his breath, as he led her back inside. "I really hope you're right."


	2. After

**Author's Note:** This scene takes place, shortly after _Nancy Drew: Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon_. How did the events of the ending affect Lori and Tino's newly-rekindled relationship?

This contains major spoilers for the game.

* * *

As soon as the others left the train car, Tino turned on Lori. "What were you _thinking?_" he shouted.

Lori shook her head. She hadn't said much of anything, ever since the amateur detectives had brought her back onto the train. The story of what had happened between Lori and Nancy in Jake Hurley's mine was almost too much for Tino to bear.

"You coulda _killed_ that Nancy girl!" he said. "Causing a cave-in? Are you _insane?_"

Lori wiped some of the mud off of her cheek. "I...I just wanted to be famous for something _good_ for once..."

"That was _not_ the way to go about it," Tino said. "If you want good press, donate to a charity."

Lori sniffed and put her hands on her hips. "You know, I thought you'd be the one person who would understand! You pulled that emergency brake on train ride to Colorado, didn't you?"

Tino was taken aback; he thought nobody else knew about that. "Well, yeah, but..."

"So how is that different from what I did? You made up a crime, just so you could look good for solving it!" Lori said. "Well, I set up this mystery, so I could look good for solving it! It's the exact same thing!"

"It is _not_ the same thing!" Tino said. "I just wanted to look good for the press! You put an innocent teenager's life in danger!"

"You put _everyone's_ lives in danger!" Lori retorted. "I heard what the engineer said. We're lucky the train didn't flip off the rails and kill us all!"

"I made a mistake, and I'm sorry for it, okay?!" Tino snapped.

"I'm sorry, too," Lori said.

"Sorry you pulled that stunt, or sorry you got caught?" Tino asked.

Lori didn't respond; she just glared at Tino.

"It doesn't matter," Tino said. He sighed heavily as he pulled out his handcuffs. "You're still under arrest, for the attempted murder of Nancy Drew. You have the right to remain silent..."

A fresh batch of tears slid down Lori's face, as Tino read her her rights. "What will Daddy think?" she cried.

"Seriously? _That's_ what you're worried about? Your father?"

Lori's bottom lip stuck out slightly, the way it did when she pouted. "Well, duh. There's no need to wonder how _you _think. You hate me."

Tino ran a hand through his pompadour. "You think I hate you?"

"You arrested me, didn't you? That's because you—mmph!"

Tino responded by pressing his mouth against hers, completely covering her bottom lip. Lori leaned into the kiss, hungrily looking for acceptance.

"You think I'm going to give up on you, so soon after we got back together?" Tino asked. "Nah. We're gonna make our relationship _work_ this time."

"Oh, Tino!" Lori said. "I _knew_ you would be the one to forgive me for the mine incident!"

"Although, it...uh...you being a criminal now kinda puts me in an awkward position," Tino said.

"Don't worry," Lori said. "We can...what does Daddy call it? Oh, right! We can take an extended vacation until this whole thing blows over! I know this great ski resort up in Cadana."

"That's Canada," Tino corrected.

"Whatever," Lori said. "The point is that we can make it through anything, as long as we're together! That's what I learned from that romance novel I just read."

"Er, right," Tino said. He couldn't stand reading romance himself. "Whatever you say, Dollface."

Lori shuddered. "Please don't use the word _doll_ around me any more," she said. "There are these _creepy _dolls in the caboose. I don't think I'll ever be able to go to sleep again."

"Then what'm I supposed to call you?" Tino asked.

"Whatever you want, Bright Eyes," Lori said, as she pecked him on the cheek. "Whatever you want."

Tino smiled. Maybe they _could_ get through this together, after all.


End file.
